[Xie Jin x Duan Yao]
1. They said he was no good.
So what?
Xie Jin had always been wild and untamed, unbound by convention. He was romantic and free, and he deserved the best.
“Good student, want me to help fend off a suitor?”
She smiled with her almond-shaped eyes, the corners of her lips lifting slightly, though her tone was deliberately distant.
“No thanks.”
“Can’t you tell I’m pursuing you?”
Her temperament was like water slowly heating a frog, driving him crazy with anticipation.
Xie Jin pursued her openly and made no secret of how much he favored her, earning plenty of envious looks.
2. “Tch, to hell with this good student act. I heard her dad’s a drug dealer, and her mom dumped her here and ran off. She acts all innocent, but she’s rotten to the core.”
Later, Xie Jin received a major demerit for taking part in a group fight, with the incident deemed especially serious.
Duan Yao also disappeared for quite some time.
It was two weeks later that Xie Jin found out she had transferred schools.
3. The day before the start of senior year, Xie Jin received a call from an unknown number.
“Xie Jin.”
“Thanks, but... my dad wasn’t a drug dealer. He was an undercover agent, and he died after I transferred here in my second year of high school.”
Silence lingered on both ends of the line.
“They weren’t wrong. My mom did leave me here, and... I’m not as noble as you think. I just enjoyed being pursued by you. I thought it was hilarious watching you make a fool of yourself. It was all an act. I treated you like a backup. I’ve been rotten to the core for a long time.”
“Hate me. Goodbye.”
His open and honest love ended tragically, like a cruel joke.
4. They met again at a class reunion two years after graduating from university.
She ran a small, niche jewelry shop and was a fairly well-known jewelry designer in her field.
He had inherited the family business and lived a life where everything was brought to him, from clothes to meals.
The heart he thought was calm began to race again.
“Xie Jin, I’m sorry. Back then, I trampled on your pride and toyed with you without a care. You’d be justified in treating me any way you want now.”
[Reading Guide]
1. A stubborn, awkward girl who refuses to admit her feelings x a devoted, straightforward puppy of a guy
2. One-on-one pairing, happy ending
3. Short school romance at first, then a modern urban setting
Theme: Youth
